Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 14. ACTION, INACTION AND NON-ACTION
Krishna’s every action is egoless, and therefore it is inaction. Even when he is doing something, he
is really in inaction.
Between action and inaction there is akarma or non-action, which means a special kind of action.
Inaction is egoless action; action is egoist action and non-action is a special kind of action. This
thing which is midway between action and inaction, which Krishna calls non-action, needs to be
understood rightly.
What does Krishna mean by non-action? Where there is neither a doer nor a doing, yet things
happen, there is non-action. For example, we breathe, which we are not required to do by our own
effort. There is neither a doer nor a doing so far as acts like breathing are concerned. Similarly the
blood circulates through the body, the food is digested, and the heart beats. How can you categorize
such acts? They come in the category of non-action, which means action happening without a doer
and without a sense of volitional doing. An ordinary person lives in action, a sannyasin lives in
inaction, and God lives in non-action. As far as God’s action is concerned there is neither a doer nor
any doing of the kind we know. There things just happen; it is just happening.
There are a few things in man’s life too that just happen. And these are non-actions. In fact, these
actions are divine operations. Do you think it is you who breathe? Then you are mistaken. If you
were the master of this action known as breathing, then you would never die really. Then you can
continue to breathe even when death knocks at your door. But can you say you are not going to stop
breathing? Or try it otherwise – stop breathing for a little while and you will know you cannot stop
it either. Your breath will refuse to obey you, it will soon resume its breathing. In breathing you are
neither the doer nor the doing itself. Many things of life are like breathing; they just happen.
If someone understands rightly what non-action is, and comes to know its mystery, he will soon
enter into a state of inaction which is acting without a center, an ego. Then he knows that every
significant thing in life happens on its own; it is utterly stupid to try to be a doer. And he is a wise
man. He alone is a sage.
I have heard... A person boarded a train and took a seat, but the bag he carried with him remained
sitting on his head. His fellow travelers were surprised and asked him why he was still keeping his
bag on his head. The man said he did not want to add to the burden of the train which was already
over-loaded. The fellow travelers were amused, and one of them said to him, ”You seem to be a
crazy person. Even if you carry the load on your head it is going to be a load on the train. Why carry
an unnecessary burden on your head? Isn’t it stupid?”
The man burst into laughter and said, ”I had thought you were householders, but you all seem to
be sannyasins.” This man was a real sannyasin. He said, ”I carry the bag on my head in order to
conform to the ways of the world. I wonder why you laugh at me? I see all of you carrying the
burden of the world on your heads, although you know that like this train it is God who bears all our
burdens. I just wanted to conform to your ways.” And then the man not only put the bag down on the
train, but seated himself on it saying, ”This is the right way a sannyasin should sit. He is not a doer;
everything just happens.”
One who understands the beauty of non-action enters the state of inaction which is acting without
ego. As we are, we are all doers, and all our doings are egocentric. We live in action. But if we
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 264 Osho